Dear Carrie Fisher; An Open Letter In Response To ‘The Princess Diarist’

Dear Carrie Fisher,

At this point I’ve just finished listening to the The Princess Diarist audiobook, and it feels like a long phone call that you don’t want to end. Trust me, that’s a compliment, as I hate talking on the phone. I feel as if we were having an awesome, one sided conversation as I listened to you narrate your own novel. Is it weird to read your own words? And the book title, it’s brilliant. Also, I’m glad that I’m not the only one who enjoys being the girl in a group of guys, England, and Star Wars. Sadly, I don’t have a dog named Gary, or it could be argued that we are the same person.

I remember thinking to myself at the beginning of the book, “I’m pretty sure that I’d be friends with Carrie Fisher now, but I don’t think 19 year old Carrie Fisher and I would have gotten along.” Now that I’ve finished The Princess Diarist, I see that I was wrong. Aside from the affair you had with a married man, there were a lot of parallels between your 19 year old self, and my 19 year old self. Somehow, your words were so relatable that they felt like they could have been my own thoughts on my late teens, and the journal entries, in their poem like format, echoed poems I wrote about my own (whatever he was) I had when I was 19. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who seemed to have their sh*t together, and yet also, had no idea what they were doing… in retrospect. But hey, we were witty gals, and apparently we still are!

Source: Amazon

Source: Amazon

Star Wars is such a huge part of so many people’s lives, and it’s fantastic to know that we’re not alone. Your connection to PLO seems so deep. She gave you a lot, and it’s nice to know that after all these years you still love her as much as the rest of us. The lone girl surrounded by a bunch of boys, both in character, and in real life. She’s someone girls and women like me look up to. I know I did when I was little, and I still do.

And Harrison! He was a hunk, and your best kept secret. Thanks for letting us, the readers of The Princess Diarist in on the details of the affair no one knew about. And to do so with such candor, and still some secrecy. You picked funny, yet classy words to tell us about your ‘sleepovers’ and your narration made it feel like a friend was telling me a story about their personal life. Maybe one they aren’t sure they want to tell you about, but the words are happening anyway.

It was enjoyable to be able to read your thoughts on what happened back then (40 years later) and also hear the words that streamed out of your pen at the time, onto the paper of long forgotten notebooks. Also, Billie killed the narration of those bits. (Side note: she’s awesome in Scream Queens)

Thanks for making me feel like we’re friends as I listened to your book. Sure, we’ll probably never meet in person, unless I catch you at a lap dancing gig (a signing, for those of you that haven’t read the book yet). But then again, I’d probably just give you a high-five, tell you you’re awesome, and fade off into the cosmos. Unless we exchange a witty line or two first.

May The Force Always Be With You,

A fan (whose name happens to be Christianna)

Other galactic story picks:

YouTube Channel: The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert

 

Featured image via Chicago Tribune